JPS6227263A - Double feed detecting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To widely mitigate restrictions particularly to the layout of a document by providing a detection means with the visual field capable of extracting the transmitted light information at multiple positions. CONSTITUTION:A document 1 conveyed from a paper feed section 3 passes on the light axis of a photoelectric conversion section 8 while being illuminated by light sources 4a, 4b through a conveying system. Thereby, the image informa tion on the document 1 is extracted. The document 1 is illuminated concurrently by the light sources 4a, 4b for read-out, and the transmitted light information is extracted by a light sensor 9 in a range of (l) when the document 1 passes. This output signal is fed to a detection control section 10. A recognition section 13 recognizes the ID of the document read out based on the image signal from a photoelectric conversion section 8 and feeds the result to an upper-level control section 11. An FC memory 12 memories the type and location of characters or the like described on the document. If the location value of M does not exceed the preset reference value a, the detection control section 10 judges it as double feed and feeds this information to the upper-level control section 11.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a double feed detection device used for detecting double feed of a form (hereinafter referred to as double feed) in an optical character reader (hereinafter referred to as OCR) or the like.

[Technical past of invention]

Conventional double feed detection V used in OCR etc.
An example of the apparatus is shown in FIG. 5 of the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the double feed detection device. A form 1 is fed from a paper feeding section 3 by a feeding mechanism 2 . A light source 4 is installed on one side of the supplied form 1, and the transmitted light from this light source 4 is detected by a photoelectric conversion element 5 provided on the other side of the form 1, and sent to a detection control unit 6. configured to send.

Then, when the form 1 passes between the light source 4 and the photoelectric conversion element 5, the amount of passing light is photoelectrically converted by the photoelectric conversion element 5 and detected. This detected value is compared with a fixed reference value set in advance in the detection control unit 6 or with a reference value stored when the first form passed, and if the difference or ratio exceeds a certain value, this value is detected. The information is sent to the upper control unit 7 as a double feed. The form 1 for which double feed has been detected is sent to the information reading system by the conveyance system. That is, the form 1 is illuminated by the light source 4',
The reflected light is detected by the photoelectric converter 8 and converted into an electrical signal.

FIG. 6 is a layout diagram of the vicinity of the light source 4 and photoelectric conversion element 5 of the transport system used in the double feed detection 'JA operation of FIG. 5. The light Ir11L from the light source 4 and the photoelectric conversion cable 5 is configured to match each other, and the amount of light passing through the form 1 passing near the optical axis is the object of detection.

(Problems with the Background Art) In such a conventional detection device, a portion of the form 1 that passes near the optical axis is printed (
There must be no holes, etc. (these are called black blocks). This is because if such a black block passes near the optical axis, the amount of transmitted light will fluctuate significantly, resulting in malfunction.

This range is usually referred to as the black block prohibition zone, and since the presence of printing, holes, etc. that would change the amount of transmitted light is prohibited in the black block prohibition zone of form 1, the degree of freedom of the layerer 1 of the document that can be handled is The disadvantage was that it was severely limited.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made to solve the problems of the prior art described above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a double feed detection device in which restrictions on the layout of forms, etc. are relaxed.

[N key points of invention]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a double feed detection device that detects when two or more forms that are fed one by one are fed in an overlapping manner. A detection means has a field of view for detecting transmitted light information by illumination light from the other side of the form at a plurality of positions arranged in a direction orthogonal to the feeding direction of the form, and a detection position of the detection means. When the level of transmitted light information at a predetermined detection position of the detection means becomes below a predetermined level, or when the level of transmitted light information in the entire field of view of this detection means does not become above a predetermined level, The present invention provides a double feed detection device including means for determining double feed.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Hereinafter, an actual IM example of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4 of the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram without showing the outline of one embodiment.

A plurality of forms 1 are stocked in the paper feed section 3, and these are fed one by one. A light 31a is provided on one side of the form 1,
The light sources 4a and 4b illuminate the form 1, and the reflected light reaches the photoelectric conversion unit 8. The photoelectric conversion unit 8 converts the image on the form 1 into an electrical signal (video signal) by detecting the foul light from the form 1. Such an operation is a normal operation for OCR.

In order to detect double feed, in this embodiment, a line sensor 9 is provided facing the form 1 on the side opposite to the light source d side relative to the form 1.

This line sensor 9 has a field of view that can detect transmitted light information of the form 1 due to illumination light from the light sources 4a and 4b at a plurality of positions. The detection means constituted by this line sensor 9 has a wider field of view ρ compared to the photoelectric conversion water droplet 3 shown in FIG.
have.

Such an in-lens sensor is usually called a contact line sensor. Detection control unit 10 connected to line sensor 9
performs operations to drive the line sensor 9 and process its output in various ways. Further, this detection control section 10 can switch and control the detection position of the line sensor 9. A higher level control unit 11 is further connected to the detection control unit 10, and a format control (FC) is connected to the higher level control unit 11.
Memory 12 is connected. Further, a recognition unit 13 is connected to the upper control unit 11 and the photoelectric conversion unit 8 .

Figure 2 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of Linesen I:1'9.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the line senna 9. Light sources 4a, 4
b has both the operation of supplying reflected light to the photoelectric conversion unit 8 and transmitted light to the line sensor 9.
It is also possible to prepare another light source to reduce the transmitted light to the line sensor 9.

Next, the operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 will be explained.

First, the form 1 conveyed from the paper feed section 3 passes through the conveyance system and passes on the optical axis of the photoelectric conversion section 8 while being illuminated by the light sources 4a and 4b. As a result, image information on the form 1 is extracted. This operation is a normal OCR operation.

On the other hand, the form 1 requires a black or white backing on the optical axis of the photoelectric conversion unit 8. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the light @L1 of the close contact line sensor 8 is
They are arranged at a certain interval d. A light source 4a is used for reading the form 1.

4b, and when the form 1 passes, the transmitted light information is extracted by the line sensor 8 in a range β (not shown in FIG. 3). This output signal is then sent to the detection control section 10. The recognition unit 13 recognizes the image signal b from the photoelectric conversion unit 8 and the ID of the read form, and sends the result to the upper control unit 11. FC memory 12 (stores the types and positions of characters etc. written on forms).

FIG. 4 is a characteristic diagram showing an example of a video signal obtained in this manner. The horizontal axis indicates the detection position of the crawl-in sensor 9, and the vertical axis indicates the magnitude of the signal (transmitted light information) detected by the line sensor 9. The detection control unit 10 detects the transmitted light information at a position preset manually or by a program and stored in the FC memory 12, for example, the position d of M shown in FIG. 3 (from the end of the line sensor 9). Focusing only on the transmitted light at a position 111 tm away, it is determined whether or not there is a double feed. That is, when the value of the position of M does not exceed the preset reference value A, this is determined to be a double feed, and the upper control HI11
"The information is sent to I. For example, in Fig. 4 (a), the magnitude of the transmitted light exceeds the reference value A at the position M,
Therefore, it is determined that it is not a double feed. On the other hand, in FIG. 4(b), since the 1s quasi-value Δ is not exceeded, it is determined that there is a double feed.

As the position of M, a position where information such as characters is not recorded is usually selected. Since this position differs depending on the ID of the form, this position is stored in advance in the FC memory 12, and M corresponding to the read form is selected based on the ID information from the recognition unit 13.

On the other hand, the entire field of view f of the contact line sensor 8 is constantly monitored,
This also allows double feed to be detected.

However, as shown in Fig. 4 (C), if there is no part exceeding the reference value A, if such a state continues for a longer time than the current time, this is judged to be a double feed, and the upper The information may be sent to the control unit 11 of the controller.

As is clear from the above explanation, the conditions for double feed detection (the part of the form where no letters are written corresponding to M in Figure 3) can be set in a number of ways depending on the layout of the form. be. Therefore, by changing the operation of the detection control unit 10 by a program such as software or firmware, or by manually changing it, it is possible to execute the operation extremely flexibly and easily, thereby performing double feed detection.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications are possible. For example, the means for detecting transmitted light information is not limited to a contact type line sensor, but may be any type of sensor as long as the sensors are arranged in one direction. In addition, the present invention
PPC1F AX, which handles not only CR but also forms,
It can also be widely applied to printers and the like.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, in the present invention, a detection means with a field of view that can extract transmitted light information of a form at multiple positions is provided, and the detection position of this detection means can be switched and controlled. It is possible to obtain a double-feed detection device that can significantly alleviate the limitations imposed on the user. It also has the advantage of being able to introduce more sophisticated criteria for double feed detection and verifying false detections.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of the line sensor used in the present invention, Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of the line sensor, and Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of the line sensor used in the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional device, and FIG. 6 is an enlarged view showing the vicinity of the detection mechanism shown in FIG. 1... Form, 4.4', 4a, 4b-... Light source, 3
. . . Paper feeding section, 9 . . . Line sensor, 10 . . . Detection control unit. Applicant's agent Sa knee - male also (figure 2 figure color 3 figure

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A double feed detection device for detecting that two or more forms that are fed one by one are fed in an overlapping manner, wherein a double feed detection device that is arranged on one side of the form and facing the form; detecting means having a field of view for detecting transmitted light information due to illumination light from the other surface side at a plurality of positions arranged side by side in a direction orthogonal to the feeding direction of the form; and switching the detection position of the detecting means. When the level of the transmitted light information at a predetermined detection position of the control unit and the detecting means becomes a predetermined level or less, or when the level of the transmitted light information in the entire field of view of the detecting means does not exceed the predetermined level. A double feed detection device comprising: a means for determining a double feed. 2. The double feed detection device according to claim 1, wherein the detection means is a contact type line sensor.